SOPA Gets Black Eye, Runs Home To Mommy

Okay, maybe the whole SOPA situation didn’t exactly turn out that way, but close enough.

Don’t piss off the Internet.

As you may or may not have heard, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) has been shelved for the time being following a huge outcry from people and companies everywhere that opposed the bill. Lamar Smith, the person who initially proposed the bill, backed down from his position and said, “I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns. It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem.”

In a rather strange twist, the ESA, who pumped a lot of money into lobbying to support the bill, decided to speak out against it. I guess seeing popular websites like Wikipedia take themselves down for a day and a petition from Google signed by four million people is an indication that you may be doing it wrong.

Piracy will always be a problem and I’m sure that this isn’t over. Millions of dollars are still being lost because people pirate music and software and that is something that victims and the government can’t ignore. Nevertheless, the “Internet” worked together to fight for its continued freedom. This whole event made me a little less skeptical to the idea that one voice could change the future…especially if that one voice has no money and no political weight to throw around. I suppose it helps however to have millions of people behind you. Give yourselves a virtual thumbs up Internet, you deserve it.